Thursday, July 5, 1928 



tsJklng about the theatrical busi- 

 ness, which Is so often confused 

 with the real drama. If you only 

 want to have a good laugh, go to 

 the commercial theatre, but if you 

 Wish to get true food for your brain 

 and soul there must be a true 

 theatre waiting to receive you. 



In this country, with its enormoua 

 n«d for progress, we must be care- 

 lul not to get "smug." We are too 

 apt to be satisfled with ourselves. 

 You have here the most wonderfid 

 public libraries, museums of art, 

 symphonies and orchestras — all 

 kinds of buildings dedicated to the 

 culture of the people. You can 

 show me 200 theatres In New York 

 yet not one of them is a real thea- 

 tre. Every town In this country 

 should have a temple of the drama, 

 a centre of mental and spiritual 

 stimulation for the people, vet we 

 have utterly neglected to provide it 

 Why is it that people will give im- 

 mense sums to music, literature and 

 painting, and that you cannot drag 

 out of them a cent for the drama? 

 It is, I feel certain, because the 

 theatre has lost its true meaning 

 and has become associated with 

 commercial enterprise. 



The moment you ask some one 

 lor money for a theatre, that mo- 

 ment he considers whether it will 

 be a successful investment or not. 

 assuming that It he gave $100 he 

 would expect to get $500 as a re- 

 turn. The powers in the theatre 

 are largely responsible for this 

 state of things because they have 

 sold their birthright for a mess of 

 pottage. The bulk of the people In 

 a theatre no longer work for the 

 love of the work itself, or serve the 

 theatre as a priest serves his re- 

 ligion; they do it because they are 

 thinking of Saturday night, which 

 Is pay night, and because of the 

 glamor of it all, with its electric 

 lights. 



